Chapter 23
“WE’RE NOT GOING TO SARAH’S,” SAM SAYS, following me along the
edge of the forest. “We got this tablet thing, possibly the transmitter we
were after, and we’re going back to help Six.”
I step towards him. “Six can handle herself. I’m right here
and Sarah’s right here. I love her, Sam, and I’m going to
see her. I don’t care what you say.”
Sam backs down, and I keep walking towards Sarah’s
house. Sam says, “Do you really love her though, John? Or
are you in love with Six? Which one?”
I twist around and shine my palm in his face. “You think I
don’t love Sarah?”
“Hey, come on!”
“Sorry,” I mutter, lowering my palm.
He rubs his eyes. “It’s a valid question, man. I see you
and Six flirting all the time, all the time, and you do it right in
front of me. You know I like her, and you don’t even care.
And to top it all off you already have like the hottest
girlfriend in Ohio.”
“I do care,” I whisper.
“You care about what?”
“I care that you like Six, Sam. But you’re right—I like her
too. I wish I didn’t, but I do. It’s stupid and cruel to you, but I
can’t stop thinking about her. She’s cool and she’s beautiful
and she’s Loric, which is like, extracool. But I love Sarah.
And that’s why I have to see her.”
Sam grabs my elbow. “You can’t, man. We have to go
back and help Six. Think about it. If they were waiting for us
at my place, then even more of them are waiting for us at
Sarah’s.”
I gently pull my elbow away from his grip. “You got to see
your mom, right? You saw her in the backyard?”
“Yeah,” he sighs. His eyes find his shoes.
“You got to see your mom, so I get to see Sarah.”
“That doesn’t make as much sense as you think it does.
We got the transmitter, remember? This is why we’re in
Paradise. It’s the only reason.” Sam hands me the tablet,
and I stare at its blank screen. I touch every inch of it. I try
telekinesis. I hold it to my forehead. The tablet remains off.
“Let me try,” Sam says. As he fumbles with the tablet, I
tell him about the ladder, the huge skeleton with the
pendant, and the desk and wall covered in papers.
“Six grabbed a handful of the papers, but it’s not like we
can read them,” I say.
“So my dad had a secret underground lair?” Sam smiles
for the first time in hours, handing the tablet back. “He was
so cool. I’d really like to look at the papers Six took.”
“Absolutely,” I say. “Right after I see Sarah.”
Sam opens his arms in astonishment. “What can I do to
change your mind? Just tell me.”
“Nothing. There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
The last time I was at Sarah’s house it was Thanksgiving
Day. I remember walking up the driveway and seeing
Sarah wave from the front window.
“Hey, handsome,” she said when she opened the door,
and I turned around to look over my shoulder to pretend she
meant it for someone else.
Her house looks completely different at two in the
morning. With every window dark, with the garage doors
closed, the house looks cold and empty. Uninviting. Sam
and I are on our bellies in the shadow of a house on the
corner, and I don’t know how I’m going to talk to her.
I pull the prepaid cell phone I’ve had turned off for days
out of my jeans. “I could text her until she wakes up.”
“That’s actually a pretty good idea. Just do this already
so we can get out of here. I swear, Six is going to kill us, or
worse, maybe she’s about to be killed by a swarm of Mogs
and we’re here lying in the grass about to go through a
scene from Romeo and Juliet.”
I power up the phone and type: I promised I’d come back.
U up?
We count to thirty after I send it, and then I type: I love you.
I’m here.
“Maybe she thinks you’re pranking her,” Sam whispers
after we wait another thirty seconds. “Say something only
you would know.”
I try: Bernie Kosar misses you.
Her window lights up. Then my phone buzzes with a text:
Is it really you? You’re in Paradise?
I pull up a handful of grass, I’m so excited.
“Chill out,” Sam whispers.
“I can’t help it.”
I respond: I’m outside. Meet me at the playground in 5?
My phone buzzes immediately: I’ll be there. :)
Sam and I are hiding behind a Dumpster at the end of
the street when Sarah takes her first steps onto the
concrete playground. From the moment I see her, I’m
breathless, flooded with emotions. She’s twenty yards
away, wearing dark jeans and a black fleece jacket. A
white winter hat is pulled over her head, but I can still see
her long blond hair, and it brushes over her shoulders in the
slight wind. Her flawless complexion glows in the lone
playground bulb, and I feel instantly self-conscious about
being covered in dirt and Mog ash. I take a step away from
the Dumpster, but Sam grabs my wrist and holds me back.
“John, I know this is going to be really hard,” he whispers.
“But we have to be back in those woods in ten minutes. I’m
serious. Six is counting on us.”
“I’ll do my best,” I say, not even thinking of the
repercussions at this point. Sarah is right there, and I’m so
close I can practically smell her shampoo.
I watch Sarah turn her head back and forth looking for
me. Finally she sits down on a swing and twists herself, the
ropes above her becoming taut. Sarah starts to spin slowly,
and I shuffle around the perimeter of the playground,
pausing behind trees, watching her. She looks so beautiful.
So perfect.
I wait until she’s facing the other direction before
stepping out of the shadows, and when she twists around
again, there I am.
“John?” The toes of Sarah’s sneakers scrape on the
concrete to stop her from twisting back around.
“Hey, beautiful,” I say. I can feel my smile reaching the
corners of my eyes.
Sarah covers her mouth and nose with her hands.
I walk towards her and she tries to get off of the swing,
but its ropes are too taut for her to escape.
I jump forward and catch the swing’s ropes in my hands. I
twist her towards me and raise my arms, lifting her and the
seat so her face lines up with mine. I lean in and kiss her,
and the instant our lips meet, it’s as if I’d never left
Paradise.
“Sarah,” I say into her ear. “I’ve missed you so, so, so
much.”
“I can’t believe you’re here. This can’t be real.”
I kiss her again, and I don’t stop while I twist us both
around and around until the ropes above her separate.
Sarah pushes off from the seat and lands in my arms. I kiss
her cheeks and her neck, and she runs her hands over my
head, gripping my short hair between her fingers.
I set her down and she says, “Somebody got a haircut.”
“Yeah, it’s my whole tough-guy-on-the-run look. What do
you think? You into it?”
“I am,” she says, pressing her palms to my chest. “But
you could be bald for all I care.”
I take a step back to cement this image of Sarah. I note
the brightness of the stars behind her, the tilt of her winter
hat. Her nose and cheeks are red from the cold; and as she
bites her lower lip and stares at me, a small cloud of breath
floats from her mouth. “I’ve thought about you every single
day, Sarah Hart.”
“I promise I’ve thought about you twice as much.”
I lower my head until our foreheads touch. We stay this
way wearing ridiculous grins until I ask, “How are you?
What are things like for you around here right now?”
“Better now.”
“It’s so hard being away from you,” I say, kissing her cold
fingers. “I’m constantly thinking about what it feels like to
touch you and hear your voice. I’ve come close to calling
you every single night.”
Sarah cups my chin and runs her thumbs over my lips.
“I’ve sat in my dad’s car so many times just wondering
where you are. All I needed to know was which direction
and I would’ve started to drive.”
“I’m right here. Right in front of you,” I whisper.
She drops her hands. “I want to come with you, John. I
don’t care. I can’t go on like this.”
“It’s way too dangerous. We just finished battling fifty
Mogs over at Sam’s place. That’s what life is like with me
right now. I can’t put you in the middle of all this.”
Her shoulders shake, and tears dot the corners of her
eyes. “I can’t stay here, John. Not with you out there and me
not knowing if you’re dead or alive.”
“Look at me, Sarah,” I say. She raises her head. “There’s
no way I’m going to die. Knowing that you’re here waiting
for me, it’s like a force field. We’re going to be together.
Soon.”
Her lip quivers. “It’s so hard. Everything is awful right now,
John.”
“Everything’s awful? What do you mean?”
“People are jerks. Everyone’s saying hateful things about
you, and they say a lot of things about me, too.”
“Like what?”
“That you’re a terrorist and a murderer and you hate the
United States. Guys at school call you names like Bomb
Smith. My parents say you’re dangerous and I’m never
supposed to talk to you again no matter what; and as an
added bonus, there’s a reward on your head, so people are
always talking about shooting you.”
She puts her head down. “I can’t believe you have to put
up with all that, Sarah,” I say. “At least you know the truth.”
“I’ve lost almost every friend I had. Plus I’m at a new
school where everyone just thinks I’m this weirdo.”
I’m devastated. Sarah was the most popular, most
beautiful, most liked girl at Paradise High School. Now
she’s an outcast.
“Things won’t always be this way,” I whisper.
She can’t hold back the tears any longer. “I love you so
much, John. But I can’t imagine how we’re going to get out
of this mess. Maybe you should turn yourself in.”
“I’m not turning myself in, Sarah. I just can’t. We’ll get out
of it. Of course we will. My one and only love, Sarah. I
promise, if you wait for me, things will get better.”
But the tears don’t stop. “How long do I wait, though? And
what happens when things do get better? Will you go back
to Lorien?”
“I don’t know,” I finally say. “Paradise is the only place I
want to be right now, and you’re the only person I want to be
with in the future. But if we’re able to somehow defeat the
Mogadorians, then yes, I have to go back to Lorien. But I
don’t know when that will be.”
Sarah’s phone buzzes in her pocket, and she pulls it
halfway out to check the screen.
“Who’s texting you so late?” I ask.
“Just Emily. Maybe you should just turn yourself in and tell
them you’re not a terrorist. I don’t want to lose you over and
over, John.”
“Listen to me, Sarah. I can’t turn myself in. I can’t sit in a
police station and try to explain how an entire school was
destroyed and how five people were killed. How am I
supposed to explain Henri? Those documents they found in
our house? I can’t get arrested. I mean, Six would
absolutely kill me right now if she knew I was here talking to
you.”
Sarah sniffs and wipes her tears away with the backs of
her hands. “Why would Six kill you if she knew you were
here?”
“Because she needs me right now and it’s dangerous for
me to be here.”
“She needs you? She does? I need you, John. I need you
here to tell me everything is going to be okay, that all this is
worth it.”
Sarah walks slowly over to a bench marked with initials. I
sit down next to her and lean my shoulder onto hers. We’re
out of the light and I can’t see her face very well.
I don’t know where it comes from, but Sarah leans away
from me and says, “Six is very pretty.”
“She is,” I agree. I shouldn’t have, but it just fell out of my
mouth. “Not as pretty as you, though. You’re the prettiest girl
I know. You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”
“But you don’t have to stay away from Six like you have to
with me.”
“When we go on walks we have to be invisible, Sarah!
It’s not like we can just hold hands and walk down the
street. We have to hide from the entire world. I’m hiding just
as much when I’m with her as when I am with you.”
Sarah shoots off of the bench and turns around. “You go
on walks with her? Do you hold her hand when you two
walk down the street?”
I stand up and approach her with my arms out, the
sleeves of my coat still caked with dirt. “We have to. It’s the
only way I can be invisible.”
“Have you kissed her?”
“What?”
“Answer me.” There’s something new in her voice. It’s a
mixture of jealousy and loneliness, and enough anger to
give each word a kick.
I shake my head. “Sarah, I love you. I don’t really know
what else to say. I mean, nothing’s happened.” A tsunami of
discomfort crashes into me, and I rifle through my
vocabulary to piece together the right words.
She’s furious. “It was a simple question, John. Have you
kissed her?”
“I haven’t kissed Six, Sarah. We haven’t kissed. I love
you,” I say, and then I cringe at the acidity of the words, the
sentence sounding far worse than I thought it would.
“I see. Why was that question so hard for you to answer,
John? My life just keeps getting better and better. Does she
like you?”
“It doesn’t matter, Sarah. I love you, so Six doesn’t
matter. No other girls matter!”
“I feel like such an idiot,” she says, crossing her arms.
“Stop, please. Sarah, you’re misinterpreting everything.”
“Am I, John?” she asks, turning her head and staring
fiercely at me with tears in her eyes. “I’ve gone through so
much for you.”
I reach out and try taking Sarah’s hand, but she snatches
it away the instant our fingers touch.
“Don’t,” she says, a hard edge in her voice. Her phone
buzzes again in her jacket pocket, but she doesn’t make a
move to check it.
“I want to be with you, Sarah,” I say. “Nothing I say right
now seems to come out right. All I can really say is that I’ve
spent weeks missing you terribly, and there hasn’t been a
single day that I didn’t think about calling you or writing a
letter.” I feel wobbly. I can tell I’m losing her. “I love you.
Don’t doubt that for a second.”
“I love you, too,” she cries.
I close my eyes and breathe in the cool air. A bad feeling
rushes over me; a prickly feeling that starts in my throat and
claws its way into my shoes. When I open my eyes, Sarah
has taken several steps away from me.
There’s a noise to my left, and I whip my head to see
Sam. His eyes are downcast, and he bobs his head in a
way that tells Sarah and me that he’d rather not be
approaching but he has to.
“Sam?” Sarah asks.
“Hey, Sarah,” he whispers.
Sarah wraps her arms around him.
“It’s really good to see you,” he says into her hair. “But,
Sarah, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry and I know you guys
haven’t seen each other in a long time, but John and I need
to go. We’re in a lot of danger. You have no idea.”
“I sort of do.” She pulls off of him, and just as I prepare to
start reassuring her how much I love her, just as I’m about to
start saying good-bye, chaos erupts.
Everything happens so fast I’m unable to take it all in
completely, the scenes randomly skipping like a movie reel
gone mad. Sam is tackled from behind by a man in a gas
mask. The blue jacket he wears has the letters FBI on the
back. Someone wraps their arms around Sarah and whisks
her away from me. A metallic shell skids across the grass
and lands at my feet, and the white smoke billowing from
both ends burns my eyes and throat. I can’t see. I hear Sam
gag. I stumble away from the canister and fall to my knees
next to a plastic slide. When I lift my head I see over a
dozen officers surrounding me, all with guns drawn. The
masked officer who tackled Sam has his knee on Sam’s
back. A voice through a megaphone blasts: “Don’t move!
Put your hands on the top of your head and get on your
stomach! You are under arrest!” As I place my hands on the
top of my head, cars that have been parked on the street
the entire time we were there suddenly come to life; their
headlights turn on, red lights flash from dashboards. Cop
cars screech around the corner, and an armored vehicle
with swat written on its side jumps the curb and slams on its
brakes in the middle of the basketball court. Men yell and
pile out of it at an alarming rate, and that’s when someone
kicks me in my stomach. Handcuffs are clicked around my
wrists. Above me I hear the whir of a helicopter.
My mind grabs hold of the only explanation it can come
up with.
Sarah. The text messages. That wasn’t Emily. The
police were talking to her. What little of my heart that didn’t
break when Sarah backed away from me now shatters.
I shake my head with my face against the concrete. I feel
someone remove my dagger. Hands take the tablet from
my waistband. I watch as Sam is pulled off the ground by
his arms, and our eyes meet for a brief second. I can’t tell
what he’s thinking.
Cuffs are slapped around my ankles, and a chain
connects to the cuffs around my wrists. I’m jerked up from
the ground. The cuffs are too tight and dig into my wrists. A
black hood is pulled over my head and secured around my
throat. I can’t see a thing. Two officers grab my elbows
while another shoves me forward.
“You have the right to remain silent,” one of them begins
as I’m led away, and I’m thrown into the back of a vehicle.
0 comments:
Post a Comment